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All posts for the month September, 2008

Despite the threat of Typhoon Nina, we braved the portentous clouds and went ahead with our trip. We were monitoring the weather websites as to whether we should cancel or push through because all signs indicate that Nina will hit on the exact days of our vacation. The boat ride was nothing short of terrifying, with the captain seemingly losing control of the boat at one point, with waves going above the roof of the ferry, and the boat thrashing and careening at perilous angles, threatening to topple the vessel at a whim. Most everyone was visibly shaken, except, apparently, me. While everyone was white with fright, I was oblivious to the sounds of the thundering waves, since I had John Denver blasting away in my iPod earpiece. Somehow, John warbling, “Take me home, country roads to the place where I belong…” put me in a place far, far away…at least from this little boat teetering on the brink of sinking, in the middle of giant churning waves in the MIndoro channel.

Delle was cursing the day I was born for giving the go-signal for this trip. All visible color had drained from her face by the time we reached land, sweet, land. We just docked at Muelle, to transfer to a smaller sppedboat to take us to Buri. But as I shared in the last post, the resort was a dream to stay in (despite a glitch or two), so all regrets of going faded slowly into the horizon.

It was a surprisingly sedate holiday. Usually, our vacations are like thongs: we try to squeeze in as much as we can into a finite space. But with this one, we just decided to do something we were in dire need to do: relax. So we basically spent most of the 3 days just lounging around, sleeping, lounging some more, eating, capped of with some more lounging…around. We only swam in the pool once. We skipped the island hopping and snorkling that came with the package. Delle went to the spa a lot.

It’s been a harrowing past couple of months for us, especially for me, so it felt like an oasis in a vast desert of stress. Somehow, being physically away from everything that’s been plaguing me was more than just symbolic, but gave me actual relief. I had no headaches, I had no bouts with depression, I had no panic attacks, just pure unadulterated peace. I even had a smile on my face, which in these days, seems like such a rare commodity, a luxury I can’t seem to afford.

The 3 days passed by like a blur. I could hardly even remember any details of how we spent the vacation. The only thing that sticks out was everytime we’d hang out at the dock, just sitting there, or lying there, with Nina puffing her cool winds in our faces, the sound of the waters rushing to shore, and just enjoying the simple life that seemed so out of reach at the time.

Plus, we also saw a dead sea snake on the shore. We thought it died a natural death, but when we turned it over, we saw its guts all over the sand. It looked like a violent death.

We loved the quiet life the 3 days afforded us. It was nice seeing the fisherfolk go about their business as we watched them, as we perched on the dock. But like most good things ( but to be fair, as well as the bad), it must come to an end. So we practically had to pry ourselves away from our island retreat and trudged on back home. Don’t get me wrong, we love that we have homes to come home to, it’s just that the rest was REALLY nice. It was one of my most uneventful vacations, but it was also one of the nicest. I’ve forgotten how good doing nothing feels.

But to be fair to Nina (the acoustic storm), she was really nice to us. With the exception of a really intense rainshower on the 2nd night, and a few episodes of light drizzling, the most we felt of her was the strong winds blowing 24/7 (wow, Nina was blowing all-day, all-night!). Mostly it was just pleasantly cloudy, but at least there was very little rain. Plus, the ferry back home was smoother than a baby’s butt. Oh well, it’s over now. Those late afternoons at the dock are but distant memories. Time to work hard again so we can afford another vacation in the future. Such is the cycle of life. Or at least the middle class version.

Lordy. I couldn’t breathe laughing at this video when I saw it. It’s the intro of some Italian show in the 80’s. It’s got the best choreography EVER. And I LOVE that girl, whoever she is. They should give her an award like, “The Best Performer Of The Century”, or something. Wow, this REALLY made my day. It brought me back to high school…

I love language. Ever since I was young, I always loved grammar and its many quirks. I love checking out words that I don’t understand in the dictionary. I love reading grammar books and manuals on writing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a snob, but I also find it so much fun to study the different grammatical errors that people make. Besides, I make so many myself. But if pointed out constructively and not in a rude way, I actually love it when people correct me when I’m wrong. Better corrected than making the same mistake over and over again.

June 2, 2008 → The Top Ten Grammatical Errors That Gave You A Headache

No name – A note from an inter-office memo: “Dear sir: w/ reference to my above, please refer to my below.”

No name – Taken from a guard’s log book: “Security supervisor visited my post and passed away after five minutes.”

No name – “Ang sakit ng MIND GRAIN ko!”

Twylyt – When my assistant tells a client that she’ll give them feedback, she goes: “Ma’am I’ll feed you back nalang po.”

No name – “Goats’ for sale” and “Goat,s for sale”.

JP – “Keep that bear in mind.”

Techie777 – Actual stuff written in patients’ medical charts in a certain public hostpital: 1. “Discharge status: alive but without permission.” 2. “She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.” 3. “The patient refused autopsy.” 4. “She is numb from her toes down.”

We were so glad to be back on land after a petrifying boat ride, but more on that in my next post. For this one, let me talk about the resort we stayed in. We stayed in Buri Resort & Spa (www.buri-resort.com). We’ve been eyeing this resort for a couple of years now, ever since we found their website and saw a flyer they had. It seemed really interesting, but at the same time affordable. But in the summer of 2004, on our way to another resort, we passed by Buri and it looked pretty decrepit, far from how the pictures looked in the pamphlet. We were disappointed and scrapped this resort out of our list. But when we saw the new website, announcing its re-opening in October 2007 after a major renovation, with its impressive pictures (and a new partnership with Nurture Spa), we decided to finally check it out.

And boy, were we glad we did. The resort was just as nice as it looked in their website. The moment we saw the layout of the resort, we knew we made the right decision to go there. The main area was breathtaking with its 2 pools, and greenery all around.

If not for the nippy winds, we would’ve jumped right into the pool the minute we got there. But as is the case whenever we get to a resort, we were excited to see the rooms as well. We got the Family Villa, which is the mid-sized villa of the 3 types, and again, we were NOT disappointed.

It’s got 2 floors, the bottom one containing the main bedroom, and the top one with 3 extra beds. The main bedroom is just perfect. It’s got a killer view of the pool area and the sea, all visible from the bed. What a view to wake up to. It’s also got sliding doors in front and on both sides of the bed, which you can open up for an indoor-outdoor feel.

The 2nd floor bedroom isn’t as fantastic, but it’s pretty cozy as well. It’s got 3 beds (actually 2, but one has a pull-out), and it also has a view of the resort. Both have aircons and fans for the summer heat, which we hardly used, since the weather was chilly the whole time we were there.

But one thing has to be said about this resort. We’ve been to many resorts, but hands downs, this one has THE BEST PILLOWS AND BEDSHEETS EVER! No other resort even comes close to the quality of the pillows and bedsheets. The pillows seem like feather pillows so it’s got the right amount of softness and firmness, and the sheets must’ve had an impressive thread count. So nice.

The toilets were cute too, nothing fantastic, but not bad either.

And when it wasn’t raining, we’d have our meals in these wonderful daybeds right next to the shore. A nice quaint touch to an already impressive resort.

Overall, the resort is a winner, with more bang for your buck than most resorts in the Philippines. ALMOST perfect. One sour note though. The service. Don’t get me wrong, the service is excellent. The staff is friendly, and very efficient. The pool boy is cleaning the pool 24/7, taking out the leaves practically the whole day, making the pool crystal clear and constantly inviting. So why am I giving the service low marks?

On our first night, the last call for food and drinks was at 9pm. We weren’t even finished with our food yet when we were informed of the last call. We found this odd, to say the very least, because most guests don’t even eat dinner until 8 or 9pm! I guess because there were only 2 groups, us included, and they figured they could close up shop earlier.

Worse, on the 2nd night, after the other group left, we were asked for our final orders at 8pm! What restaurant asks for final call at 8pm?!? So we were freaking out because we still wanted drinks and desserts but the whole staff left us there, at 8pm, with nothing more to eat or drink. That was a deal breaker for us. Major boo-boo. It’s not just bad for the guests, but it’s bad for the resort as well. It was lost revenue for them because we would’ve ordered drinks till the wee hours of the morning! We found out later that the resort hasn’t hired a manager yet, so basically the staff is running the place on their own, going Lord of the Flies on us. I don’t know if the owner knows about this, but they should. When you pay good money for a resort, you expect to be pampered like guests. Those two nights, we felt like unwanted interlopers who were imposing on the “homeowners”. This is one resort that is in dire need of a MANAGER.

But come morning, the staff is back and is efficient as ever. The service is top-notch IF they’re there. That was the only flaw (and a HUGE one at that), in an otherwise impressive resort. What a shame.

Well, I have a long way to go to sort out my pictures, so it’s back to business with a Top Ten post. It’s so fitting that it’s an internet topic since it’s something I had to do without for the past couple of days. It’s just a weird feeling, like you were cut off from the rest of the world. But I must say, it was refreshing to have no TV, no internet, no newspaper…nothing.

May 29, 2008 → The Top Ten Internet Moments

Techie 777/Daisy6 – A little boy goes to his father and asks, “Daddy, how was I born?” The dad answers, “Well son, I guess one day you will need to find out anyway. Your mom and I got together in a chatroom. I set up a date via email and we met at a cybercafe. We sneaked into a secluded room, I upgraded my floppy disk to a stiffy, then your mom agreed to do a download from my hard drive. As soon as I was ready to upload, we discoverd that neither of us had used a firewall. And since it was too late to hit the delete button, 9 months later, a blessed little pop-up appeared and said: ‘You’ve got male!'”

Datgurl – My brother was chatting over at mirc. There was this girl who messaged him asking, “Wer u at?” My brother said, “Sa internet cafe.” The girl said, “Ay, sige, bye. I only talk to guys na may sariling pc.” What she didn’t know was, he OWNS the internet cafe. Talk about gold diggers!

No name – I was on Friendster, and I saw my boyfriend’s new account, so I gave him a comment, saying “Love u, mwah!” The next day my mom said “Huli ka!” I found out later that it was my mom who created the account.

No name – I am an avid RF online gamer, and I have a friend online. He’s a specialist, and I buy ammo from him. One day, I met him during our grand EB, and he turned out to be the vocalist of RAZORBACK!!! W0000H! A rockstar supplies me ammo!

Asymptomatic – There’s this girl that I wanted to court who also plays this online game I’m playing. She was only playing before summer ended, and she wanted to get married in the game before she retired. What I did was, one Saturday, I warped her to her fave spot (named proposal hill) knelt down, then gave her a tiara and a diamond ring. Instead of typing my proposal, I called her up and told her over the phone. We got hitched after 2 weeks.

Marcus – Sometimes I have no choice but to answer my 5yo son’s difficult questions with either “I’ll look it up online later” or “Only God knows why.” One day he said to me, “Dad, you know who knows the answer to everything? The internet! And Jesus too!” Jesus just got second billing.

Weng – I was chatting one night when one of my chatters asked the one question that I hate the most: “Saan ka now? Sa bahay o sa café?” So I answered: “Dito sa bahay, nagka-kape.”

No name – One day my dad left the computer open, and he forgot to sign out. Naughty thing I did was to open the sent item. Imagine my shock when I saw an emailed letter to his first love saying, “I still miss you.” I still keep that secret up until now. My mom has no idea.

Rodel Garcia – I subscribed to a sleazy yahoo group. A few days after, a post from a guy looking for someone to trade porn with. He stated that he prefers pinoy vids. He then posted his cell phone number. He turned out to be one of my best friends, using a different name. I forwarded his email to our other friends, so alaskado siya sa amin when wesaw each other next.

No name – I’m a mountaineer, but secretly doing it for a few months now! Meaning, my mom doesn’t know about it. Last month, after I got home from a climb, my mom askd me, “Saan ka ba talaga galing?” It gave me the creeps, thinking how she found out where I’ve gone that weekend. Eventually, I learned that she accessed my Friendster account through my younger brother’s account.

Lilacstardust – I found out that somebody plagiarized my blog. She’s such a loser coz she plagiarized my beach experience, including my opinions and stuff.

Louise – The Imdb (Internet movie database) site has loads of users w/ crazy sigs. One goes, “If you choke a smurf, what color wud it be?”

Shao – Believe it or not, in 2003, I got to chat with Aaron Carter, complete w/ webcam. Mga 15 minutes, nagkuwento lang siya about Heart Evangelista & Angelica Panganiban. Apparently, si Heart and Angelica lang ang naaalala niya dito sa Pinas. Aaron Carter was eating mais during that time. Nobody believes me up to now, but it really happened. Btw, it was Aaron who buzzed me for a chat. I was in a US chatroom. At first, I didn’t believe that it was him until he turned on his cam.

JKhunter – I implemented a webfilter system in our compny to block pornsites. When I was checking the logs, I caught a user tryng to access one, so I warned him. Later, I browsed the site myself.

The Director – I met this girl through a dating site. We became regular chatmates up until the point that we were doing sex chats. One evening, she revealed her true identity. That was the last time I chatted with her. She turned out to be one of my former students.

Curt Smith – The 1st time we had internet at home, I tried browsing a porn site. Big mistake! I browsed a site that had adware, which changed my homepage to the porn site. So now, when the kids have to use the computer, they have to close their eyes 1st while I change the site.

Louise – I belong to a CSI gsr forum. One of the basic rules in a forum is to use proper spelling and grammar. A few of the newbies were warned that they should take care of character spelling because they kept calling Warrick, Warwick. Turned out they were Brits, and they pronounce Warwick, as “Warrick”.

Marijo – I heard about this one client calling a call center complaining that he just wants to book a flight from expedia.com. But whenever he goes to the site, he sees a porn site insted. Turned out, he kept on typing sexpedia.com.

Jose de vengenge – In a netshop, I was watching porn for my thesis. Di ko alam I turned the volume so high that everyone could hear the moans & groans until the one beside me told me to turn it down. I felt so embarassd that I left.

Jose de vengenge – I was having a sexy chat with this girl from Budapest. GIRL: “If my right leg was your lunch & my left leg was your dinner, which do you prefer?” ME: “Uhm…can I have the snack in between?”

We’re back! Aaah…we really needed that. It was way too short, a 3-day, 2-night stay is always over before it starts, but I’m not complaining. I’m back with a bagful of pictures and stories. I’ll tell you all about it once I settle in and fix my pics. I’ll tell you all about: the resort, what we did, Nina the acoustic storm, and as much as I can tell, without getting into trouble.

But I’m pretty glad I’m back too. I heard our 2 little ones, Nairobi and Cairo, would cry every night that we were gone. They’re quiet versions of breeds known for their yappiness. For some reason, our dogs don’t really bark much. But while we were away, our yaya said the 2 would howl and whine all night. So I’m mighty glad to see them and play with them again.

Plus, the weather took a turn for the worse. I think it’s worse now than it was when we left. The heavens poured tubfuls of rain so we were greeted with a monstrous traffic jam on the SLEX on our way home. What a nightmare! What should’ve taken just a couple of hours from Batangas port, extended to a headache-inducing crawl back home.

So, I’m all done for the day. I’m too pooped to tattle about anything substantial until I get a good night’s sleep. So just wait until I put my life back in order, out of vacation mode and back into everyday grind mode, then I’ll post all the junk inside my trunk. Glad to be back!

To quote The Go-Go’s: “Vacation’s all I ever wanted…” We’re going on a much-needed break. This isn’t my annual major vacation; that’s coming up in November. But that’s still a good 2 months from now, and I don’t know if I got enough wind in my sail to coast by until then. Lord knows 2008 turned out to be a tougher year than I expected, so holidays, however fleeting, are nevertheless life-saving emotional oases that give brief respites from life’s heat.

But funny thing is, after a great sunny week, and after we’ve chosen the dates and booked the resort, we get news that a typhoon just brewed and now threatens our much-needed vacation! Typoon “Nina”, the acoustic storm, is hovering ever so menacingly, looming large and creeping closer by the inch, as if taunting us with the prospect of dousing our bonfire of happiness (whatever’s left of it). So here I am, writing on the eve of our 3-day vacay, praying for a reprieve. Of course there’s no arguing or bargaining with fate, but hey, let me throw it our there. All is not lost; if I “The Secret”-ize it, maybe we’ll get our beach bonanza after all, replete with sunny skies and oily half-naked bodies traipsing along the pearly shores.

I also heard that there’s free internet, so maybe I’ll get to blog after all. If not, then you’ll hear from me on Tuesday night or Wednesday. Sigh. I REALLY need this vacation, especially when I’m almost running on empty. I need to breastfeed from Mother Nature’s sandy teats. I need to drink from Mother Ocean’s wet watery womb. Thy will be done. But give the poor guy a break.